


4 AM

by McKat



Category: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Between The Whispering Skull and The Hollow Boy, Comfort, F/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 10:22:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12130383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McKat/pseuds/McKat
Summary: Lucy has a nightmare. Lockwood helps her out a little. Just a short little comfort fic of my two little awkward children. Hope you enjoy!





	4 AM

I jerked up, breathing heavily and covered in a cold sweat. I panicked before remembering where I am. Portland Row.    
  
Safe.    
  
I checked my clock. Four in the morning. We'd just gotten in from a case about three and a half hours before. If I didn’t get more sleep I’d be miserable. 

  
I forced my breathing to slow and lay back down, pulling my covers up around my shoulders. After getting comfortable, I closed my eyes and trie to sleep.   
  
No such luck.   
  
I lay still for thirty minutes before giving up. I was awake for good, however, "good" may not have been an accurate term. I sat back up again and jump nearly a foot when I heard a voice from nearby.   
  
_Bad dreams?_   
  
I groaned inwardly. I usually closed the lever so I couldn't hear the skull at night, but I must have been so exhausted from the case that I'd forgotten.   
  
"Oh shove off."  
  
_My, my. Testy, are we?_   
  
I rolled my eyes and stood up, closing the jar. As I did I heard the skull say something sarcastic about my needing beauty sleep that it's probably best for its sake that I didn't hear all of.   
  
I stood stiffly and stretched before heading down to the kitchen. Half down the stairs, I heard movement.   
  
I moved quietly down the rest of the steps and hid in the shadows, listening. There was a small commotion and a muffled curse from a familiar voice. I stepped into the kitchen and saw Lockwood looking through a cupboard, tea kettle on the stovetop.   
  
"Lockwood?" I said quietly.   
  
He jumped a little and turned, almost seeming to sigh in relief when he saw me. "Oh, good morning, Luce."  
  
"Why are you awake?"   
  
He shrugged and looked back to the cupboard to retrieve the sugar. "I could ask you the same thing."  
  
Stifling a yawn, I sat at the table. "Bad dream."  
  
"Mm. I'm sorry, Lucy."  
  
Even though he couldn't see me with his back turned, I shrugged. "Comes with the territory, right?"  
  
He nodded and quickly reached over for the kettle, already gripping its handle by the time it signals it's done. He pours the tea in two mugs he must have set on the counter before I came down. Except that...  
  
"How did you know I was coming down here?"  
  
"Sorry, what?" he asked over his shoulder as he added sugar.   
  
"There's two mugs on the counter. You didn't set them out when I was down here, so it must have been before. So you knew I was coming." I was impressed with my early morning logic. Except... "Or are you expecting someone else? I'm sorry I didn't mean to assume."

He shook his head and handed me a tea. "You were calling out in your sleep. I figured you'd be up soon." 

I bit my lip and looked down, studying the thinking cloth. "I'm so sorry to wake you."

“It's not a problem, Luce. I promise.”

I nodded but didn't look up from something George had sketched. There was no telling what the squiggles and dots were supposed to be. 

Lockwood sat across from me and silently sipped his tea, looking at the cloth as well. 

After a few minutes of silence, we'd both drained our cups. Lockwood put them in the sink and sat back down, this time beside me. “Lucy, what did you have a nightmare about?”

I simply shrugged, looking at one of my old doodles of a flower. I didn't usually draw flowers, but they were rather simple to do. 

“Lucy?”

I sighed and started messing with the hem of one of my nightgown sleeves. “The case I was on at my old agency.” I hated how faint my voice was but I couldn't help it. 

I saw Lockwood nod out of the corner of my eye. “Luce, I'm sorry.” 

Shrugging, I looked up at him. “It's not a big deal, Lockwood. I'm sorry to wake you.”

“Don't be.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’d rather help you.”

I smiled a little despite myself. “Thank you for the tea.”

“Not a problem.”

I stifled a yawn and he did the same. “It’s early,” I said quietly. “We should probably go back to bed, if you’re feeling okay.”

I shrugged. Going up to my room by myself with only the skull for company wasn’t exactly a welcoming thought. 

He must have seen my thoughts cross my face. “I could sit in your room with you. Just until you fall asleep.” He bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up. 

“I, uh. Actually… if you didn’t mind.”

He smiled a little and we went up to my room. As soon as we entered I felt a quick flash of embarrassment at the clothes strewn about the place. There were skirts and blouses all over the floor, with some intermittent salt containers and a magnesium flare or two. Not to mention the skull, which was leering at me from the moment Lockwood entered. I inconspicuously kicked a pile of laundry on top of it so I didn’t have to look at its glowing face. Lockwood, meanwhile, was trying to unearth my chair. As he did I sat on my bed. 

He eventually sat down and looked at me, and the awkwardness of the moment certainly didn’t escape me. I tried to lie down but it was hard to relax with him there. “Lockwood?”

“Yeah, Luce?”

“You can make yourself comfortable, you know. Do you want a pillow?”

“I’m alright.” He shifted some in the seat and then kept still. After a few minutes I heard a soft snoring and chuckled. I stood and got a blanket from a shelf and put it over him. After he looked cozy, I couldn’t help pressing a soft kiss to his forehead before going back to bed and covering myself up. 

“Good night Lockwood,” I said quietly before dozing off. 

I didn’t have any more bad dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first Lockwood & Co. fic so please tell me what you think in the comments! I can also be found on tumblr at in-between-sleep-and-awake where I post poems and funny stories and such. Much love!


End file.
